Muscle groups / Quads
Quads: exercises and weekly sets
Quads landmark: 14 working sets a week on the Zyra Workouts dashboard — 7 exercises train it as the primary muscle and 1 credit it at half weight. The full lists, the counting rule and the related groups are below.
Also searched as: quadriceps, front of thigh.
Landmark and half-weight rule: Zyra Workouts dashboard defaults. Typical rest = the most common default rest among the primary exercises above (the catalog's per-exercise value; the app lets you override it).
Exercises that train quads
Primary exercises credit quads with a full set each; secondary exercises credit it with half a set. Open any exercise for its rep targets, progression step and alternatives.
Primary (7)
- Back SquatBarbell · ×1
- Front SquatBarbell · ×1
- Leg PressMachine · ×1
- Hack SquatMachine · ×1
- Bulgarian Split SquatDumbbell · ×1
- Leg ExtensionMachine · ×1
- Walking LungeDumbbell · ×1
Secondary (1)
- Reverse LungeDumbbell · ×0.5
How secondary work is counted
The app credits every working set to the exercise's primary muscle in full and to each secondary muscle at 0.5. So a week's quads total is primary sets × 1 + secondary sets × 0.5, and its coverage bar is min(total ÷ 14, 1). Warm-up sets are excluded before anything is counted. In the 4-day upper/lower template that comes to 6 + 0 = 6 for quads, below the landmark.
In plain terms: a set of a big compound movement that merely involves quads is worth half a set of an exercise built around it. This is the app's bookkeeping rule, not a measurement of anything — a way to make one number comparable across muscles. Check a planned week with the weekly sets calculator.
Frequently asked
How many sets a week for quads?
The Zyra Workouts dashboard uses 14 working sets a week as the quads landmark — the target its coverage bar for quads fills toward (coverage = sets ÷ 14, capped at 100%). It is the app's default for reading a week, not a prescription; a coach or your own log can set a different target.
Which exercises train quads?
7 exercises in the catalog train quads as the primary muscle — Back Squat, Front Squat, Leg Press, Hack Squat, Bulgarian Split Squat, Leg Extension, Walking Lunge. 1 more list it as a secondary muscle (Reverse Lunge); each of their sets counts half toward the quads total.
Do secondary exercises count toward quads sets?
Yes, at half weight: every working set of an exercise that lists quads as a secondary muscle adds 0.5 to the weekly quads count, against 1 for a primary exercise. Reaching the 14-set landmark from secondary work alone would take 28 such sets. Warm-up sets never count.
Related muscle groups
Other groups in the lower body region:
Compare all 11 muscle groups →
Guides for quads
Track quads sets automatically
Zyra Workouts counts every logged working set toward its primary muscle and half toward each secondary one, and shows this week's quads coverage against the 14-set landmark on its dashboard. It is in development and not yet on the App Store.
Zyra is a training and nutrition tracking tool. Nothing on this page is medical advice, a diagnosis, or an individual prescription. The numbers are estimates from published formulas and the apps' own rules — consult a qualified professional for decisions about your health, and a coach for your training.